Friday, February 12, 2016

Chinese journalism not

“Freedom is very important – it is the most important thing – but we
don’t have it in China, especially in journalism,” he said.
“You can’t write what you want. You can’t interview who you want. And
even if you do, you can’t publish it. Working in the Chinese media
feels like you are wasting your life.”

Reporters, editors and publishers in the West may snigger at the enforced mediocrity of Chinese news media, but a closer look at the hometown news-delivery system may be a bitch-slap they would do well to heed.

How we once laughed when intercepting communist political data in Berlin. The "Department of Agitation and Propaganda" was a real bureau inside what was then East Germany.

1 comment:

As i understand it, the majority of news is consumed from the three major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC. They are privately owned businesses intent on profit, and the loss of a sponsor because of a presentation can bring down great wrath upon the head of the editors. Even the non-profits PBS and NPR are dependent upon grants that are given credit but not called advertising. The folks at KPFA who depend entirely on public donations would refer to NPR as National Petroleum Radio because of the sponsorships from petroleum giants and their never doing stories related to petroleum.

My name is Adam Fisher. I live in Northampton, Mass., U.S.A. I have a wife and three children. This is my blog and consists of almost-daily postings -- sometimes (older) about the Zen Buddhism I have admired and practiced for something short of 50 years; sometimes about other 'spiritual' matters; and (more recently) about whatever strikes my fancy. Except to the extent that it might help others to consider what sort of fool they might prefer not to be, this blog does not aim to help anyone. Writing is an old and diminishing habit. It's what I do. Once upon a time, I built a zendo/meditation hall in the backyard here and invited people to come. The zendo is still there and my Dharma name is still "Genkaku" ("original realization" or "original understanding") but these days the formality of meditation has drained. Black Moon Zendo is still a good zendo, but I am 77 in 2017 ... creaky and disinclined. I honor those who make courageous journeys, but am hoist by my own observation that "Just because you are indispensable to the universe does not mean the universe needs your help." Best wishes to all. I can be contacted at genkakukigen@aol.com